Astronomy Domine: My God is Full of Stars

Well, I've been a busy little bee lately. I'll tell you, all sorts of interesting, um, revelations have bubbled to the surface.

So I wanted to clarify a few details in Revelation and then double back to Genesis because boy; things are really, really heating up 'round these parts.

So seeing it's Sunday and all, whad'ya say we all do us some churchin', eh?

AND THE HORSE YOU (DIDN'T) RODE IN ON

OK, a revision here and an exciting one. I showed you before that the Four Horsemen are the Four Seasons or the Four Quarters but didn't get the Third Horsemen quite right. I did a little more digging and man; it's a doozy. 

The passage again:

Revelation 9:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse...

So what then is this Black Horse they speak of?

Well, in ancient times there was no constellation over the Summer Solstice cusp of Gemini and Cancer because the stars there were too faint to see with the naked eye. However, there was a Horseman-- Auriga the Charioteer-- just a ways down the Ecliptic.

So the Black Horse is the apparent void of space looming over the Gemini-Cancer cusp.

I told you whoever wrote this book was a genius.

Later a constellation was created for the Void called Lynx.

The next verse goes like this...

Revelation 9:5 And he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand...

You might think this is Libra (I know I did) but note where Auriga's hand is placed. It almost seems to be holding Castor in it.

So Gemini looks to be the Balance.

And if you really want to get fancy, you could say Gemini and Cancer are the "pair" of Balances, based on their sigils.

Which would in turn absolutely cement that connection between the Third Horsemen and the Gemini-Cancer cusp.

Think on it, brothers and sisters.

"VOICE IN THE MIDST" IS A DOUBLE-ENTENDRE

This is rather clever as well. Orion is a voice in the midst of the Four Beasts (cross-quarters) given its proximity to Taurus, and is itself surrounded by four animal signs, including Taurus.

Revelation 9:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts (Canis Major, Canis Minor, Lepus, Taurus) say...

Revelation 9:6 A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Orion is a winter sign that rises during harvest time, so I think the symbolism here is fairly self-evident.

Revelation 9:6 and a half 'Tis the lucky-lucky penny-penny that binds the pearly to their souls.

OK, that last verse isn't actually in the text. But it should be.


THEORY: CONFIRMED

So going through the symbolism I came to this conclusion about some, um, star players in Revelation 9. It goes kinda like this:

THE ANGELS OF THE EUPHRATES: THE CROSS-QUARTERS

 I don't know the significance of the Cross-Quarters in relation to the Four Angels (often confused with the Four Horsemen) but the alignments are certainly clear enough. If you know your cross-quarter Celtic holidays this should be all obvious enough.

As you can see from this ancient Jewish mosaic, the Four Angels are indeed stationed at the cross-quarters. So why do the Four Beasts --and the Four Evangelists-- sub in an Eagle for Scorpio? 

Well, my take is that Scorpio wasn't real popular with folks back then, given that it's below the Zodiacal line (ie., in the Underworld) and is based on a really horrible creature. Aquila has the added benefit of being right next door to Aquarius as well.

And as will see, Aquila's place on the milky parts of the Milky Way connect it straight to Heaven and angels and all the rest of it. Oh, before I forget...

BORN TO BE WILD(ERNESS)

As you can see here, the Woman (Virgo's) "journey in the wilderness" (in Revelation 12, of course) is her journey away from the Ecliptic Plane or Zodiac. From my initial research, this motif seems to hold true in other Bible stories.

And, yes...

THE MERCY SEAT, or OUR TIME IN EDEN or SOME OTHER IRONIC GENX MUSIC REFERENCE

Well, I told you that the Woman's Son taking the Throne of God (Revelation 12:5) is Bootes moving on up the North Pole of the Cosmos and joining King Cephas in the Celestial Court. Didn't I?

Cephas is God (Yahweh, Jehovah, whomever) and the Milky Way--at least that stretch of it-- is the Garden of Eden.

Like I was saying.

Anyway, my theory is that whoever wrote Genesis was working from a different corpus and different sources than we might see in other books, which is why I think the Milky Way here is a garden as well as the Tree of Knowledge and a River and so on and so on.

I'm not married to the last fact there-- there could be some kind of lost constellation or asterism that was called 'the Tree' or 'the Fruit' or 'the Tree and the Fruit'. But I think you can clearly see why some might look at the Milky Way as some kind of tree. 

Do note that the Garden of Eden story is similar in some ways to a Sumerian tale about Inanna and Dumuzi and a Tree and a Snake. But either way it's clear to me that the Garden is the Milky Way.

Which in this little corner of the Sky features the constellations known the Greeks (and by extension, the Jews) as Perseus, Cassiopeia and Cepheus.

There were almost certainly known to some Babylonian placeholders (if not the Sumerians themselves) as something else entirely. Apparently this was the part of the sky the Babylonians reserved for the "Sitting Gods," hence the two enthroned characters in our tale here.

But I am certain that these three constellations --Perseus, Cassiopeia and Cepheus-- "walking" in the flow of the Milky Way here is alluded to in this passage from Genesis:

Genesis 3:8--And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 

Adam seems to be more the hiding character in this passage, which may allude to the fact that he's "hiding" on the other side of a specific curve in that part of the Milky Way.

Cue the Serpent...

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 

Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 

Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 

Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 

Genesis 3:4 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

Glad you asked.

• "The Knowledge of Good and Evil" seems to be the ability to exist within and without the Garden, the nebulous band of the Milky Way Galactic Plane.

• In this light, remember that the Bible repeatedly warns of the stars leaving their places in the sky, see Mark 13:25 ("the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken loose.") and Jude 1:6 ("the angels which kept not their first estate"). It's seen as the worst evil. 

• As you can see, Cepheus the Gardener is both within and without the Galactic Plane, so to be "as gods" is to share that ability, or knowledge of good (within) and evil (without). 

• Draco is nearly totally outside of the nebulae of the Galactic Plane so the Serpent is by inference evil.

• Cepheus and Draco "battle" for dominance around the North Pole of the Celestial Globe, which is the real meaning of the "War in Heaven."

EVE OF DESTRUCTION

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

So why is that Eve is seduced first by the Serpent? In this context it's because Cassiopeia is closer to Draco in the Heavens. The Serpent is trying to lure Cassiopeia out of the Galactic Plane. Perseus is following behind Cassiopeia so he eats next.

I'd have to look into it further, but my guess is that this is based on a time in the year when Perseus and Cassiopeia (or their Babylonian predecessors) and parts of Draco are seen in the sky but Cepheus-- which is north of them-- is not.

Help me out here, my star nerds.

And the famous fig leaves?

Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

I can't be certain yet but various depictions of Cassiopeia depict her with a palm frond in place of a mirror. Given the locations in which these stories originated the trees we're looking at could well have been palms, trees that also bear fruits.


THE CHERUBIM WITH THE FLAMING SWORDS

Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Before we look to the stars, let's first define what Cherubim are. They are not cute babies with wings, they're horrible chimeric monsters that guard gates. They're usually a mix of man, bull and eagle.

Exodus 25:20: And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

So who are the Cherubim that guard the East Gate of the Garden of Eden?

• The Winged Cherubim are Cygnus and Aquila.

• The "Flaming Swords" are Deneb and Altair.

• The East Gate is Sagittarius, the crossroads of the Milky Way and the Zodiac.

• And course, Cepheus is the Garden of Eden. And the Gardener.

Note that Cygnus and Aquila not only resemble bird forms but also sword hilts.

JACOB WRESTLED AN ANGEL AND THE ANGEL WAS OVERCOME

OK, I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with the theories that the Twelve Tribes of Israel- led by the Sons of Jacob-- are in fact the signs of the Zodiac.

If that's true, then who then is Jacob AKA Israel then?

JACOB IS OPHIUCHUS

Oh, how can that be, I hear you saying? Well, let's start with one of Jacob's most famous tales, in Genesis 32: 22-28

And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” 

But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 

So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 

And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

OK, so the text says a "Man" who claims to be "God," but the consensus has always been that Jacob wrestled an angel (see Hosea 12:4). But, you scream, Ophiuchus is wrestling a snake, how can he be Jacob?

Excellent question. Maybe because "Angel" and "Serpent" are the same word in the Hebrew Bible, namely "Seraphim."

So how can a being be man, serpent and angel? Good question.

Maybe someone should ask her.

Now we saw that the Seraphim knocked Jacob's hip out of joint during their grudge match, which we see depicted in pretty much every traditional depiction of Ophiuchus, the Serpent lifting up the Wrestler's left leg, therefore putting it out of joint.

Genesis 32:31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. 

Genesis 32:32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.

In this context the streams and gullies and cricks and so and so forth in Jacob's stories are the Milky Way, which Ophichus stands at the cusp of.

JACOB and ESAU are OPHIUCHUS and HERCULES

So who then is Jacob's twin Esau? Let's go to the tape, Howard...

Genesis 25:24-27 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. 

So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.  

Esau is of course Hercules (the Wild Man), and he and Jacob-Ophiuchus are indeed twins who are head to heel (more or less).

Ophiuchus is an epithet for Asclepius, who like Jacob, is a "mild man."

Well, adding all this zesty Genesissy goodness up, I think you can guess what Jacob's Ladder is...

JACOB'S LADDER IS THE MILKY WAY ASCENDING FROM GALACTIC CENTER

OK, so this is the Sky as the ancient Jews would have seen it. So we have Ophiuchus AKA Jacob, who in the story is at Beer-Sheba, the Place of Wells.

Wells are fed by underground streams, which is instance represents the Milky Way in the Underworld, meaning south of the Ecliptic.

We saw that Aquila and Cygnus are Cherubim earlier in Genesis, so we see them on the Ladder-- the arm of the Milky Way leading to the Garden and the Throne-- so they are the Ascending Angel and the Descending Angel, respectively.

So here is the Genesis account in graphic form: Jacob (Ophiuchus) is fleeing Esau (Hercules), lays down at the Place of Wells (where the Ecliptic sends the Milky Way "underground"), lays his head upon stones (Scorpius) and sees the Ladder (the Galactic Plane) and the Angels (Aquila and Cygnus) leading to Heaven (Cepheus).

Please note than in some depictions Hercules is contending with the Serpent in the Garden of Hesperides. They're fighting over the Golden Apples.

And since we're all doomed to burn in Hell now anyway, let's throw in Lyra...

...the reason the Angels play Harps. 

Lyra's vaguely ambiguous nature is attested to the fact that it, like Cepheus, is inside and outside the "Pillar of Cloud" of the Galactic Plane, and since it's "fallen" and "like God," perhaps it's the origin of the post-Biblical Lucifer mythos.

Either way, it's definitely why I'm thinking of the Vegas.

Well, that's enough for now, don't you think? The ladies are serving coffee and cakes in Fellowship Hall, so please come and let us reason together.

Is there more? 

Oh my. More than you will ever know.

SYNC LOG UPDATES: 1652 EST

Drudge Report uses a depiction of Cepheus (who was Ethiopian) front and center for story on Medieval African King.

737 crashes in Ethiopia.

Hidden Chamber in the Sphinx, guardian of earthly Milky Way.